Over the years the amistad rebellion has held the interest of many historians and even entered popular historical consciousness thanks to steven spielbergs 1997 film amistad despite all of the attention and the wealth of sources that likely qualify the amistad revolt as one of the most thoroughly documented slave rebellions most scholarship has been less concerned with the central protagonists. The amistad rebellion an atlantic odyssey of slavery and freedom on june 28 1839 the spanish slave schooner amistad set sail from havana on a routine delivery of human cargo on a moonless night after four days at sea the captive africans rose up killed the captain and seized control of the ship. The mission propelled the american antislavery struggle back to africa p 227 and it became an important center in the struggle against slavery and the slave trade there the missionaries were disappointed however when most of the amistad rebels deserted the mission and returned home. The amistad rebellion an atlantic odyssey of slavery and freedom item preview remove circle the amistad rebellion an atlantic odyssey of slavery and freedom by rediker marcus publication date 2012 topics amistad schooner slave insurrections antislavery movements slave trade. The successful amistad rebellion changed the very nature of the struggle against slavery as a handful of self emancipated africans steered their own course to freedom they opened a way for millions to follow this stunning book honors their achievement